It wasn’t a promising buy: a semi-derelict commercial building with two floors that didn’t connect inside, stables in the back garden and no planning permission. It had stood empty for four years and was, says its owner/architect Nicholas Burwell,
burwellarchitects.com, “falling apart”. But Burwell could see the potential in the Grade II-listed building in Buckfastleigh, Devon, which dates back to 1812

The upper floor is a glorious space, 12m long and over 5m high; the garden is big enough for large gatherings; and the ground floor has enough rooms for a family of four – plus guests. Above, the kitchen

The attraction, too, lay in the building’s rich social history. It was originally used as the assembly rooms for the hotel next door, hosting dances in Jane Austen’s era. It held boxing matches in the 1930s and 40s, and has since been used as a furniture factory, a youth club, offices, a bank and a workshop. Above, the modern bathroom

The first job Burwell did was to connect the two floors internally with a striking asymmetrical timber staircase. The partly-open treads let more light into the hallway. The black slate floor had a previous life as billiard tables. He found it in a local reclamation yard

Burwell then set about transforming the first floor into a huge living/dining room, dividing the space so the whole family could be together, yet get on with their own things. So a pair of sofas, from Dwell,
dwell.co.uk, sit back-to-back, enabling someone to watch TV with headphones on while someone else reads. Burwell built a mezzanine level at one end to house an open kitchen/dining area.Above, the view from the mezzanine kitchen

The room is clad in timber, including a wall of bookshelves. “We’d run out of space at home in London,” Burwell says, “and books make the space feel less empty, and soften the acoustic.”. Above, the living space, including a mezzanine kitchen and a dividing wall that houses a small toilet, is clad in timber from a sweet chestnut felled on Dartmoor

Burwell wanted a house he could stay in while working for clients in the south-west, and that his family could use regularly. Friends also use it, free of charge. The garden has no lawn, and hardy plants don’t require much upkeep, but friends are asked to water when they stay. It’s hard to imagine they mind